I didn't watched the game but... why Earl Smith Jr and Birdman just played 6 minutes in game 2?

They were ineffective. The Nuggets weren't running any offense though, they were just 1 pass shoot, bring the ball up and shoot off the dribble, iso for Earl and it was not working. Then he got fouled once with no call and GK got a tech, then he just walked off the court and went back to the locker room